NetGalley and the publisher provided me with an excerpt of House of Earth and Blood in exchange for an honest review. Since I haven't read the full novel, it's hard to provide them with a critique. But what I can say, after reading the first few chapters of the book, is that Sarah J. Maas has created a complex new world in her fairy universe. I have only read the first two books in the COTAR series (I loved the first book; didn't know what to make of the 180-degree shift in the second book), I know Maas is capable of writing very complicated fantasy stories. Unlike her COTAR and Glass Throne series, Crescent City is set in a contemporary time. There's a lot more profanity than what her previous novels, and the story has a more "gritty" feel to it. The story centers around Bryce, a half-fae-half-human character whose best friends are killed. While she's initially blamed for their deaths, Bryce quickly sets out to avenge the murders.

I'm looking forward to reading the full book. At that point, I'll know whether I liked it or not.

Yes, yes yes! I love everything Sarah J. Maas writes, so I was so excited when I heard she was releasing her first adult novel. This excerpt just made me all that more excited! It will be a long wait for the rest of this book.

Oh my God. The first five chapters are amazing and I absolutely need the rest.

I’ve been anxious to see what Maas was going to write next and now I have my answer and I must have the rest of this suspenseful, hilarious, frightening book.

Pretty please with sugar on top?!?!

This excerpt was such a great teaser! I cannot wait until the book is released. I can already tell that it will be a fan favorite and a book that will make new fans in droves!

This excerpt proved that Sarah J Maas can write for adults, without telegraphing from the rooftops that she is not writing for teens anymore. The world is complex, but this excerpt gave us the tip of the excerpt. And in her true style, she had me invested in characters even knowing they wouldn't last.

Right from the beginning, we're thrown into the new world of Bryce, half-human half-fae who works in an antiquities shop, and we are being introduced to her friends and city. I'm really excited to continue on when this book releases, but the start was slightly info dumping. Hopefully, as the book goes on, the pieces will fall into place.

This will be a mini, spoiler free review. Excerpt provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m so ready for a new SJM book.
I know it’s only been – holy crap, it’s been 2 years since KOA? – honestly, I was about to say that it’s only been a year, but I lie.
Anyways, I read the first 5 chapters of this new book, because I couldn’t wait, and curiosity got the better of me.
Holy crap am I read. March 3rd cannot come soon enough. It’s cruel to cut off the excerpt right as something major happened. I need to know what happens next!
On the other hand, I hate that I read this excerpt because now a month long wait is going to royally suck.
I will say that I found it a little slow and a little confusing in the beginning, but I feel like that’s forgivable since this is a whole new story, whole new set of characters, whole new world that she’s introducing us too. By chapter 4 I was hooked anyways, so I don’t really have an issue with it.
I’m so excited to meet the love interest – I’m pretty much a sucker for how SJM writes relationships and I tend to devour her books. I’m also pretty sure I’m going to really like Bryce. It feels too early to make any definitive declarations, but I think she’s going to be really fun to read.
So, I’ll just be sitting here, impatiently tapping my foot, waiting for March 3rd so I can finish this beast of a book.
If you’re someone who doesn’t mind the tease of an excerpt, I highly recommend checking this one out.

*My rating is subject to change, as I have not read the whole story yet.
Excerpt Review will be posted on my blog at 8AM EST, February 7, 2020.

Thank you for the exciting opportunity to read and review this excerpt!

"House of Earth and Blood" was a total surprise for me. I don’t know what I was expecting from this new work of Sarah J. Maas, but it wasn’t this adult urban fantasy novel that put me to mind of Ilona Andrews’s Kate Daniels series or Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series. I was surprised by the swearing and the casual references to sex and drugs, something I have not encountered with the author’s other works. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just something that caught me off guard. In fact, I am positively excited to see what other differences will come of House of Earth and Blood being categorized as an adult novel rather than a young adult novel!

Despite all this excitement in realizing I was reading an adult, rather than young adult novel, I honestly can’t say that I was hooked on House of Earth and Blood from the get-go. At the beginning of the excerpt, I felt like I was being absolutely inundated--and overwhelmed, for that matter--with information about the characters and their backgrounds, houses, a way of life, crime, and a city I knew nothing about. I felt like I should be taking rigorous notes! The excerpt is filled to the brim with werewolves, chimeras, fae, fauns, archangels, and every other fantastical creature of which you could dream--each complete with their own hierarchy existing within the greater organization of Crescent City. I am sure I still don’t fully understand how everything works and that I probably won’t until I finish the entire novel--which I definitely will be reading.

It’s clear from this excerpt, however, that Crescent City is certainly a character of its very own, one that stands out even among the rest of the larger-than-life characters. It is hinted within "House of Earth and Blood" that there is even more to this dazzling city than meets the eye. I can’t wait to discover more of what that is!

The author does an amazing job of developing not only Crescent City, but also her characters in just the first few chapters. Perhaps that is why I was SO stunned when I realized I was essentially reading a tragic origin story in the making for the somewhat frivolous main character, half-fae-half-human Bryce Quinlan.. I thought the story was going one way and it went in a completely different direction. I was absolutely astounded by the ending to the excerpt, which was a total cliffhanger. I have a sneaking suspicion that as a result of these shocking events, Bryce will become just as badass or even more so than her counterparts Feyre and Aelin. And I cannot wait to see if being in the adult genre will lead Bryce down even darker paths than Maas’s other beloved heroines.

I also have really high hopes for the romance of this series. Even this early in "House of Blood and Earth," Sarah J. Maas has made it very clear that Bryce will not be accepting any toxic masculinity aka “alphahole” behavior directed at her, despite being rather low on the Crescent City pecking order as a half-human. A lot of this is due to Bryce’s parents, and my curiosity is PIQUED. I want to know more about her background and literally everything else!

By the end of this excerpt, I was completely invested in Bryce and her magical city. I cannot wait to see where Bryce’s inevitable quest for revenge will take her. Time to preorder!

I was given the chance to read an excerpt (the first 5 chapters to be exact) and I already want to read more, though I do have a few criticisms. Hopefully they'll be ironed out though as I'm able to finally finish the book when it's published. It's been years since I've read any of Maas's books, so I was a little apprehensive, but was happy to hear it is a whole new series so I wouldn't be lost. The book is very complicated from the start and there are already hundreds of details established about this new world, the government, and the players in it. I was a little irked at the main character's name since, to me, it's a very masculine name for a female lead, but got used to it by the end of the excerpt. With the way Bryce talks on and on and on about Danika, her roommate, it started to make me question why the book isn't told from her perspective. Lastly, chapter 5 is gripping and leads up to a MASSIVE cliffhanger. Literally one where you get done and yell "noooo!" because you HAVE to know what happens next. I guess I'll be waiting until the full book is published, but I did like it so far. I'm very intrigued and can't wait to finish the story come March.

This looks amazing. It's raw, edgy, laced with biting humor and bad attitudes that are so Sarah J Maas I instantly adore it. I'm excited that the author is moving into the adult fiction world which will hopefully allow her to explore darker themes.

This is the first Sarah J. Maas book (excerpt) I have read - despite having some of her other books on my to-read list - and I realize now what I've been missing!

I thoroughly enjoyed the first 5 chapters, and loved the chemistry between the characters. I was a bit overwhelmed with the complex details at the beginning, especially the amount of characters! But I'm sure I'll lose myself in the full novel, and expect that all the details will fall into place.

It's an intriguing and promising story and extremely fast paced! I look forward to seeing how Bryce's tale unfolds.


Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the excerpt!

I’m already falling in love with this book! I need the rest of it ASAP! Sarah J. Maas is already managing to steal the spot for my favorite book once again.

What was that?! Now I'm really dying to read this book! Bryce is a half fae who is best friends with the almost alpha werewolf. A criminal they recently got locked up was released and it gets crazy after that. Left me totally hanging and I will be counting down the days until I can finish this book and give a full review.

Absolutely cannot wait for this book to come out!! I am a huge Maas fan!!

This excerpt has me even more excited than I was before. The cover art is STUNNING!!!

Thanks for the excerpt!! I’m so excited to read more from Sarah J. Maas. First off though, just have to say how much I love the cover art and the beautiful map we get of Crescent City. My favorite thing about Sarah’s books are the characters and I can’t wait to get to know them more when the book comes out. Also, I love to dive into any fantasy world that’s full of fairies and shifters so thaaaank you for a new fantasy series I can look forward to reading.

So excited I was able to read this excerpt, counting down till early March for the full book. Excited to see SJM grow into the adult fantasy world. Bryce is already a strong and exciting character, and I'm looking forward to following along. She reminds me a little of Feyre!

Thank you thank you for offering up this excerpt. I am so excited for Sarah J. Maas's next book. This one starts off with a lot of exposition, but that's to be expected in the first book of a new series in a new world. I look forward to reading the rest of it. Maas's world-building skills are second to none.

First of all I’ve got the chance to review this precious piece Sarah wrote and that’s a huge honor.

With the first few pages I didn’t know what to expect from the book and the characters. The main character Bryce is a half-face and half-human (as you all know) and she works at a gallery.

The story so far is really good and interesting and by the way it ended (the excerpt) I really need to read the rest of it!

Bryce is a really good character, kind of reminds me of Feyre (ACOTAR) but otherwise she’s also different but the same way awesome. She doesn’t take a lot from people and she’s her own person. She loves to party, have fun and then the next day just go to work...

I would love to write so much more but don’t know if I’m honestly able to or should. After the book is OUT and I’ll be able to read the full book...I’ll review it as a whole here.

I was immediately interested in reading this, especially since it's an adult series. While I love the YA series written by Sarah J. Maas, I was intrigued to see what she could do in the adult realm of the fantasy genre, specifically an urban fantasy setting. I wasn't disappointed!

Initially, I found the breakdown of who oversees the city and quarters a bit confusing, but once the story got underway, I was immediately sucked into the world-building and the characters themselves. Bryce is a character that is relatable, as a young woman who is struggling to find her way in a world that isn't exactly friendly to her kind - the half-human, half-Fae who don't have a set place in the highly ordered society.

The first few chapters allowed me to get to know Bryce and her friends - Danika, Fury, Juniper, Connor, and some of the other members of the Pack of Devils that Danika oversees. The rigid class structure of the city was interesting, and the urban setting reminded me strongly of a metropolitan city in the American South. I liked that the setting was a good mix of fantasy and urban reality. There's a bit of tension, with stirrings of war brewing in nearby areas, a dangerous convict being released, the disastrous relationship with Reid (which I could see heading for a breakup a mile away), and the potential for romance with Connor.

Everything seems well and good, but it wouldn't be a very interesting story without some kind of spark. I was really hoping that the spark wouldn't involve what it seemed to, and I was heartbroken about what happened, even after just a few chapters of getting to know the characters. I'm interested to see what happens next, and what this means for Bryce and the rest of Crescent City.

I'm also really curious to learn more about Bryce and her background, like what happened with her father, and where she goes from the events in the last chapter. As with any excerpt, it seems like the defining event always comes just as the excerpt ends, and I'm left desperate for more. I'm looking forward to reading the book in its entirety.

This is certainly textbook Sarah J. Maas material, and I think her fans will be very excited considering how the first few chapters play out. Maas sets up the world like furniture in a house, and then pulls the rug out from under it with gut-wrenching tragedy. It took a bit to settle in with all the exposition of the houses and world politics, but the main character is vibrant on the page, as are her friends.

Another signature Maas is the way she sets up possible/future/past romances. This is not a love-at-first-sight book and it is certainly not a book where the main romantic interest is introduced quickly and outright. In this, the writing is refreshingly realistic in terms of love, lust, and loss.